New Year’s Day
よきことをますみの鏡今日見ればかねて千年のかげぞうかべる
yoki koto o
masumi no kagami
kyō mireba
kanete chitose no
kage zo ukaberu | When pleasant things
In the clearest of glasses
Today I see,
Already a thousand years’
Sights have floated there… |
Higo
飛火野に萌え出でにける早蕨を焼くと聞きてや人の折るらむ
tobuhino ni
moeidenikeru
sawarabi o
yaku to kikite ya
hito no oruramu |
On Tobuhi Plain
Budded out
The fresh bracken
Will burn, I hear, or
Might folk pick it? |
Higo, from the Residence of the Kyōgoku Regent
京極関白家肥後
Clouds 雲
吹く風にただよふ空のうき雲をいつまでよその物とかはみん
fuku kaze ni
tadayou sora no
ukigumo o
itsu made yoso no
mono to ka wa mi | With the gusting wind
Scudding through the skies go
The drifting clouds
How long until distant
Objects they might become? |
Higo, from the Residence of the Kyōgoku Regent
京極関白家肥後
Love on Sight
かつ見れど飽かぬ恋かな志深く契りや結びおきけむ
katu miredo
akanu koFi kana
kokorozasi
Fukaki tigiri ya
musubi okikemu |
I have seen you but once, yet
Never sated is my longing!
Does love
In such deep bonds
Always seem to entangle? |
Higo, from the Residence of the Kyōgoku Regent
京極関白家肥後
Hidden Love
知らじかしいひし出でねばかくばかりしのぶる恋に身をこがすとは
shiraji kashi
iishi ideneba
kaku bakari
shinoburu koi ni
mi o kogasu to wa | Doesn’t he know?
I’ll burst not out in speech, so
As ever
With love’s secret fires
Is my body scorched. |
Higo, from the Residence of the Kyōgoku Regent
京極関白家肥後
まだ知らぬ人をはじめて恋るかな思ふ心よ道標せよ
mada siranu
Fito wo hazimete
koFuru kana
omoFu kokoro yo
mitisirubeseyo |
With an unknown
Man have I begun
To fall in love!
Let the feelings in my heart
Guide me on my way! |
Higo, from the Residence of the Kyōgoku Regent
京極関白家肥後
The Names of the Buddhas
人わたす三世の仏のなをきけばむかしのつみもいまや消ゆらん
hito watasu
miyo no hotoke no
na o kikeba
mukashi no tsumi mo
ima ya kiyuran | All folk
The three worlds’ Buddhas’
Names hear, and
Even sins from days long gone
Have now vanished all away. |
Higo, from the Residence of the Kyōgoku Regent
京極関白家肥後
Blankets
あれはてて空しき床のかた見にはふるきふすまのむつましきかな
arehatete
munashiki toko no
katami ni wa
furuki fusuma no
mutsumashiki kana | From a disheveled
Meagre bed
For a keepsake I have
A threadbare blanket;
How close we are! |
Higo, from the Residence of the Kyōgoku Regent
京極関白家肥後
Brushwood
冬寒み霜はおけども椎しばのときはの色はあせずもあるかな
fuyu samumi
shimo wa okedomo
shiishiba no
tokiwa no iro wa
asezu mo aru kana | In winter’s chill
The frost falls, yet
The brushwood’s
Evergreen hues
Fade not at all… |
Higo, from the Residence of the Kyōgoku Regent
京極関白家肥後
Imperial Visits to the Fields
冬ふかき野べの御幸のけふしもあれしらふのたかをすゑてけるかな
fuyu fukaki
nobe no miyuki no
kyō shi mo are
shirō no taka o
suetekeru kana | In the depths of winter
An imperial visit to the meadows
Was there today,
Hawks of white
Would be ready there! |
Higo, from the Residence of the Kyōgoku Regent
京極関白家肥後
'Simply moving and elegant'